On The Feast Of St. Nicholas

Yesterday St. Nicholas visited our house and brought some of these:

And a new book to read:

We also discovered that it had snowed the night before and it was the first snow of the season to actually stick to the ground. 

So after..

...we finally...

...found everyone...

...a hat...

...to wear,...

...and coats and mittens and snow boots,...

...the kids went out to play.

Anthony was trying to figure out what this stuff was!

It was only 8:00 in the morning, so it was cold!  17 degrees, I think!  Anthony only lasted about 10 minutes, everyone else 15-20. 

When they all came in, we had some hot chocolate and marshmallows.  Mind you, this all took place before school started!  Luckily, we can have a flexible start time.  Good thing, too, because the snow was mostly gone by lunchtime. 

Later, we read our new book, True Story of Santa Claus, a story about a boy named Nicholas and how he stays up to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.  Then when Santa comes he tells Nicholas a story about another Nicholas long ago.  It is published by Pauline Books.

In the afternoon, we watched the DVD, Nicholas, The Boy Who Became Santa.  This is one of those wonderful DVDs from CCC of America.  We have five of their DVDs and they are really neat.  You can find them at many Catholic online stores and probably at your local Catholic bookstore as well. 


Disclosure:  If you follow any of the links to Amazon and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

Movie Review: Padre Pio, Between Heaven And Earth

I don't know what I was thinking to send for a review copy of a three hour movie.  Especially when I was pregnant and then when I had a baby.  Yes, it has been sitting around for that long!

But, it was about Padre Pio!  After all, he is the patron saint of this blog.  After all, he died exactly one year before Dan was born.  I know, I know, we already had a movie about Padre Pio.  It also was three hours long.  How could this movie be any different? 

And then, we finally made time to watch it.  Afterwards, I could not understand what on earth took me so long to view it!  You know a movie is good when it is over and you look at your watch in disbelief that three hours just went by.

First of all, I must say, if you get this movie, you must watch it in Italian, with English subtitles.  After about 5 minutes, it will feel like you can understand Italian and it won't even seem like you are reading subtitles.  Yep, one of those kind.

And yes, it is different from the movie, Padre Pio, Miracle Man.  This movie dwells a great deal on his relationship with Dr. Guglielmo and Emilia Sanguinetto, who are his friends and collaborators in starting up his hospital to serve the poor.  It also focuses a lot on his reception of the Stigmata and the difficulties this caused him with the Church.  Of course there are also scenes of healings done through him and of his extremely long confession lines, but there was one scene in particular that stuck with me.  A young Karol Wojtyla comes to see him while he is studying in Rome, and there is an interesting little scene between them.  Of course, I couldn't help but notice that the actor who played the future Pope resembled my brother, the priest!  :)   Then later, the future Pope sends Padre Pio a letter asking him to pray for a very ill woman, and then another letter telling him of her miraculous recovery.  Then, what struck me most is that Padre Pio, who received so much mail, told his assistant to save those letters, "one day they'll be very important." 

So if you are looking for a good Easter gift or a Confirmation gift, or just want a good saint movie to add to your collection, go visit The Catholic Company and check out Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth.   They also have many other items good for First Communion gifts.  The Catholic Company is also on Facebook and they have giveaways every Friday!


Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this movie from The Catholic Company in exchange for an honest review.